metal wallet

I've been meaning to write about this wallet for some time, but somehow it keeps getting put on the back burner.

Anyway before I discovered the clinch wallet, this accordion style metal while it was suggested to me to help me access my credit cards. In short, my traditional folding leather wallet credit cards were sticking and becoming very difficult to get out. This as seen on TV metal wallet put open a fan and allow the cards to sit rather loosely.

In theory this was a good idea, but in practice it didn't really work out so well. As I was losing considerable dexterity and pinch strength between my index finger and thumb, the wallet which is closed by a little plastic clasp became very difficult open and surprisingly, due to the loss of dexterity it wasn't it easy to access all of my cards as we hoped it would. In particular the ones on the outside near the metal covers. Those were very difficult to get out.

Not mentioned, the idea of having the cards loose makes it easier to pull them out once you have a hold of him but if you happen to drop the wallet (which happened to me in the checkout line) the wallet kind of explodes when it hits the ground and now you got 10 or 15 cards scattered all over the place. Needless to say with dexterity problems this is a real pain in the butt…

By itself I found the aluminum wallet was insufficient to replace my regular wallet completely. Consequently I found myself carrying another item to organize my stuff. A regular wallet would carry my cash and ID, and this aluminum wallet would carry pretty much exclusively just my cards. Although you could put your ID in, it's really inconvenient if you need it… You have to take it out of the wallet to show it.

It's been my experience so far that while dealing with ALS, simplification and minimization is best. Less items I need to manage and carry around the easier my life is. This aluminum wallet ended up adding to the list of things I needed to carry around…


On the plus side, the wallet is a very inexpensive to try and very easy to find. I found mine at Canadian tire for about $10. If you care reasonable amount of grip strength and dexterity left, it might be a viable solution. Personally however I didn't really like and can't recommend especially when there are alternatives such as the clinch wallet. Even so, I used to this matter wallet for probably almost 6 months and for most of the time it worked out okay. Not good, just okay…

Pro:

• inexpensive to try, only $10 Canadian.
• If you still have a reasonable amount of dexterity and pinch strength this might actually

Con:

• if you have weakness between your thumb and index finger, it is very difficult to open the latch
• once you've popped it open, don't drop it. You'll have cards everywhere
• by itself is insufficient to replace a regular wallet. So I found I ended up carrying another item to organize my stuff.

Conclusion, can't recommend it…

Hauling More Stuff… The Clinch Wallet

I, like probably most guys used to have a traditional leather wallet that was crammed full of cards and all that other junk that seems to somehow, magically end up in your wallet. It was sufficiently stuffed with plastic that was impossible to put in a pocket anyway, so I always carried it in a small sling bag (such as the these) with my other essentials...Keys, MP3 player, cell phone, bits of paper that wouldn't fit in my wallet… you know, essentials. I used this set up for most of my adult life and for the most part this worked out just fine… Right up until my dexterity started to go…

The traditional wallet became problematic for accessing any of the cards your ID, and being a fold wallet, it would often get stuck or hung up when I would try to pull it out. This started to become very inconvenient, and quickly quite frustrating.

The first thing that I was suggested to try was one of those "as seen on TV" aluminum fold wallets. This didn't really work for me, I will write more about it in another post.

The next wallet I found was the clinch wallet which I discovered while researching the grab it pack (discussed in another post here). At first I was a little skeptical that it would live up to all the claims it makes. But, I figured that it wasn't very expensive and worth a try. Besides, when I purchased it from http://www.clinchwallet.com/ they offered a package deal with a grab it pack which gives me free shipping… Essentially giving the wallet for just about free. So why not?

I have to admit, I am very pleased with the clinch wallet and grab it pack. The wallet really does hold as much as it says it does, everything remains easily accessible, and doesn't thicken up as the traditional fold wallet does. There are a few card pockets that are little tighter than others, these tend to be the plastic ones and getting things out is a little more tricky. But this is no big deal as I put things like my ID and cards I don't need often, or simply need to display in them.

It also has three nylon pockets for cards. These are great for the cards you need to use often, like your credit or debit cards. The nylon these cards slide in and out very easily.

The clinch wallet also comes with a lanyard chain, which I found to be quite cool but because of my dexterity limitations, it gets in the way. I removed that and replaced it with a large zipper pull tab which makes it just a little bit easier for me to fish out of the grab it pack. the great thing is that the wallet is actually designed for the large pouch of the grab it pack. It fits perfectly with room to spare, the enough so you can get your hand in to grab it quite easily, even with my messed up hands. Not to mention that both of these products being made of nylon means the slide against each other with very little resistance.

The one thing that I really had to do because of my dexterity limitations was reduce the amount of Velcro on the opening tab. This was simply done by sticking another piece of Velcro on for most of the opening tab, reducing the amount of contact when it's closed. Making it easier to open.

The clinch wallet is a great replacement to the traditional fold wallet. I can once again fit all my cards into one wallet and I find that with a slight modification made with to the opening tab, it works really well for me with my dexterity limitations… I highly recommend it.

Pro: 

• great, discreet looking wallet
• hold a huge number of cards and remains thin. You should never suffer from the exploding wallet again.
• fits perfectly with the grab it pack

Con:

At the moment, I don't really have any. I'm very pleased with the product and its price.

Cost:
If you were to purchase the wallet by itself it will cost you US8$ plus about 7$ for shipping. If you purchase it with the grab it pack, they pay for your shipping. I bought the package deal.

Recommendations:
The clinch wallet is well worth trying and I highly recommend the package deal with the grab it pack.